Enns Travel Guide

P0001159

Enns is a small town of 10,000 people and is located in Oberoesterreich (Upper Austria) just a few miles away from the larger city of Linz. Most people who live in Enns commute to Linz to go to work and prefer to live here because it's a quiet little town that gets away from the craziness of cities (though Linz is hardly a big and crazy city with only 188,000 people).

Enns claims that it is the oldest town in Austria and the brown road signs will be sure to educate this to any new arrival, though this is not true because Sankt Poelten was founded in 1081 AD and became an official city in 1159 AD opposed to Enns' aquisition of city privileges in 1212 AD.

Enns, though small, is attractive. The Enns river is a nice, quiet place that one can use as a launching point for boat rides and the town square holds various festivals which are fun to attend. Enns also has bike trails in the countryside where one can enjoy the splendid view of sparse forests surrounded by smooth rolling hills of the Austrian countryside. Deer and otter can be found in the countryside while ducks live in and around the river. With knowledge of the German language, even to a limited degree, communicating with local farmers who live in large farmhouses will make available chicken and eggs at insanely low prices. When biking in the countryside, look for signs that say "Freilandeier." These indicate places they have eggs lain from chickens who are free to roam around. These chickens, amazing as it may seem, eat apples and worms, not any kind of factory processed economic gunk so the quality on those eggs is virtually guaranteed and the prices are much lower than what supermarkets charge.

Enns has a train station but waiting for a train to Linz could last two hours long. The best bet is the bus at the Enns Zentrum, the central area with the tower. Be sure to ask the kind staff on the ground floor of the tower about when the bus will show up. The table at the bus stand is quite confusing for those who haven't come across it before.